By Dawn Collinson

IF mud sticks then Brian McFadden must be wallowing up to his neck by now. Insults and accusations have come thick and fast since he split with former Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona last October. And most have had Brian's name on them.

Was he cheating on wife Kerry with Aussie pop star Delta Goodrem? Did he dump Kerry over the phone? Could he really be that cruel? Brian, to say the least, is under media siege and understandably defensive.

"I do think I've copped an enormous amount of s*** in the past few months," he says. "There was no way that I expected what's happened, that it would all be so black and white; that there'd be a good guy and a bad guy and I'd be the bad guy.

"What did I do to be painted as the villain, I don't know? Probably being born," he smiles.

"But there's no mystery, the whole thing was actually very simple and it was then made complicated by everything in the press and all these other people who got involved.

"There was so much to deal with when Kerry and I split up and it was very difficult because of everything that was being said.

"Now we're great friends and we can talk about it, but to be honest I don't under-stand why people take such great entertainment out of my life."

Having enjoyed global success with Irish boy band Westlife since he was a teenager, Brian is used to a certain amount of interest.

When he and Warrington-born Kerry married in County Meath in January 2001, it was the celebrity fairytale event that had everything - a star-studded guest list and OK! magazine part-funding the £400,000 cost.

Their daughter Molly, now three, was a bridesmaid and the couple went on to have a second daughter, Lilly Sue, a year later.

In March 2004, when 24-year-old Brian announced that he was leaving Westlife "to concentrate on my family" and Kerry won TV's I'm A Celebrity ... reality show their home and work lives looked idyllic.

For them to announce their break-up within months came as a complete surprise - to everyone but the couple themselves.

"It was a simple thing, we grew apart and we moved on, but then she has all these problems and I get blamed for them. And six months later it's still going on," shrugs Brian.

In fact their separation triggered a catalogue of rumour and supposed recrimination.

Suddenly there were endless stories of alleged affairs and bitter fall-outs.

Brian had recorded a duet for his solo album Irish Son with former Neighbours star Delta and gossip columns were quick to link the two.

But she was by no means the only one.

"The week we broke up I was supposed to have gone out with four of Girls Aloud, Delta - obviously - and I was connected to another girl in Ireland," sighs Brian.

"And worst of all I was supposed to be with a guy in my band! They said the reason Kerry and I had broken up was because I was really gay, which is all funny now but it's not when it's going on.

"I hadn't even met most of Girls Aloud and I'd actually only met Delta once at the time. I didn't see her again until the day we shot the video for Almost Here, yet apparently I was having a full-blown affair with her all along.

"I feel like saying 'do the maths', it didn't happen, it's impossible."

Most hurtful of all, he says, was the suggestion that he ditched Kerry with a phone call.

"They said I rang her up one day and said 'it's over' but that would just be inhumane," he insists.. "How anyone can believe something like that is incredible.

I'm not a monster, it's ridiculous. How could anyone believe that I could break up a four-year relationship and a marriage over the phone? It's just so obvious it's not true."

It's clear he's frustrated by how he's been portrayed, and the cheeky Irish banter may not be quite as ready as it once was, but he answers every enquiry about his private life with an affable frankness.

So does he think he contributed to his own bad press by flaunting his relationship with Delta so soon?

"No, no," he says, "I didn't open my bloody mouth about Delta. We went on holiday to South Africa to try and get away from everyone and we were hiding in a house. We only went out to play crazy golf and then we went down to a private beach one day and the paparazzi photographed us.

"What do you do? How do you keep anything private, even when you're trying? How much more can we do than go all the way to South Africa, for God's sake?"

Despite it all, though, he maintains he doesn't regret that he and Kerry are no longer pop's golden couple.

He has had two top 5 solo hits in Britain and his duet with Delta went to number one in Australia. He's about to embark on a 24-date UK tour and his and Kerry's lives now, he insists, are better than when they were together at the end of their marriage.

"The good thing is our girls are very young so they don't understand everything that's gone on and the main thing is they are happy," he says..

"Before, they were being dragged all over the place, there was no stability in their lives, and then when we were together there was an unhappy environment in the house. Now they see us separately but they see that we're happy and they get all the attention.

"The lines of communication between me and Kerry never really broke down, but we needed some time and now we phone each other all the time, we're mates and we talk.

"I write songs, I don't want people to like me necessarily for my private life. I just want to sing and have a normal life and hopefully people will see beyond everything that's been written and allow that to happen.

"And do you know what? Kerry's happy now, I'm happy and the kids are happy and that's all that's important to me."